it's a little more than a fender bender
by svvanmills
Summary: "Oh, christ. It's a Mercedes. My son runs into a car, and it's a fucking Mercedes." Swan Queen Week Day 1: Meet Cute AU. Rated K but there are a few curse words scattered here and there.


**So, who's super excited for Swan Queen Week? I know I am. This is by far the longest oneshot I've ever written, and it took me hours. Which is saying something. Because I have many, many unfinished prompts in my google docs. But I just felt like this was such a cute idea, and heck, it's Swan Queen Week, so I better step my game up. Hopefully I'll be able to write a oneshot for every prompt; all of them are super interesting!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time. Or a driver's license. :(**

Henry was pretty confident in his driving skills. It wasn't that hard, right? Hands on two and ten. Gas on go, brake on stop. Don't speed _too _badly. This was his first time driving with his permit, and he was a mix of emotions that included super pumped, anxious, and a small (and stupid) bit of him was curious to know what would happen if he honked the horn to startle his mom, Emma. It wasn't a shocker to see why she wasn't as excited as he was to finally be behind the wheel.

"Mom," Henry complained, ignoring his shaking hands as he slowly drove around the suburban neighborhood (Emma didn't trust him in traffic yet, apparently), "can you stop holding on the dashboard like I'm gonna drive into a ditch and kill us? It makes me nervous." He was trying carefully to look at every inch of the road, but Emma's death grip on the handle on the ceiling of their yellow bug and nervous jiggles of her legs distracted him. He stopped the car to make a point.

"You driving makes me nervous," his mother retorted, a small smirk on her face and a twinkle in her eye so he'd know it wasn't meant to be offensive. She looked out the windshield, the rows of cookie cutter houses and nicely trimmed lawns in her vision, and she sighed. "It's not like you'll get the experience any other way, though."

"Exactly. So you do the teaching me how to drive thing, and I'll try not to do the being the death of us thing. Easy peasy." He slowly started giving the car gas again, inching his way down the street. This part of the neighborhood was unfamiliar to him, as none of his friends lived on this side and he never ventured out to explore it. Better late than never, he guessed. It seemed to look like the rest of the neighborhood, and maybe a little nicer, if he had to admit it.

"Okay, you're gonna make a left at the crossroads a little ways ahead, okay? Let's work on your turning skills," Emma said. Henry nodded, not looking off from the road. Emma watched as Henry slowly turned onto the lane. Given, he had to stop and go a few times, but it was good for his first turn. Of course, though, as his driving instructor now, she had to be a little strict.

"You did good, Henry!" she cheered when Henry stopped in the new position, giving her a look of pure joy. He smiled and whooped. "_But." _Henry moaned. "You forgot to turn on your blinker. You might wanna do that next time, kid."

Henry stopped his excitement and his cheeks turned slightly red as he murmured, "Oops."

"But no matter," Emma waved off. "Let's get to the good stuff."

"Like…?" Henry raised an eyebrow.

Emma gave her son an evil grin. "Parallel parking."

Henry blanched, his face becoming as white as the hands he was gripping onto the steering wheel. "Ma… you sure…?"

"Hey, if you prove to not completely suck, this is one of the hardest aspects of driving. You'll feel better about doing the easy stuff. Like you said, easy peasy. Come on," Emma urged Henry, and Henry started to slowly give the car gas again. "Let's find a pair of cars far enough from each other for you to start off with."

Henry swallowed hard, the anxiety from the beginning of his driving lesson starting to creep up on him, but he drove on down the street. It seemed to go on forever, and Emma made him make a right (and while it was smoother than the last turn, it ended with a curb check), but they finally seemed to find two cars far apart enough for Henry to practice after five minutes of hunting. The first one was a cerulean truck, and the second one a small black car. Henry's hands started to get a little sweaty, but he kept his hands on the wheel, not wanting to let go.

"You can do it, kid," said Emma, knowing her son needed to hear some comforting words to try and ease his nerves. "Now, I want to to drive up close to the blue truck until you get the hood of our car to the break between the actual truck and the tail of it. Then stop."

"Are you sure you want me to do this?" Henry's voice wavered, and he looked at his mom with fear shining in his eyes. A few beads of sweat dotted his forehead and his hands shook nervously as he fidgeted his fingers holding the wheel.

"Henry," spoke Emma, her voice growing soft. She swept her hand through Henry's slightly unkempt hair (he would need a trim in a few weeks, she noticed), and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "You're gonna do amazing. You're doing better than I did when I started driving. It's going to be nerve wracking, and hell, it still is for me sometimes and I've been driving for, what, seventeen or eighteen years? That's just about forever to you. Just do as I tell you. I know what I'm talking about; I have a lot of experience. I also may have googled a few things."

Henry gave back a nervous smile at his mother. "... Thanks, Ma," he said. "I guess I just needed a pep talk."

Emma patted Henry on the crown of his head. "Guess you just needed some encouragement from ol' Mama Bear."

Henry's smiled became more confident and he rolled his eyes good naturedly. "I totally got this."

"You totally got this," Emma echoed.

Henry did as Emma had told him to and looked at her expectantly when she was done. "Now what?"

"Patience, young grasshopper," said Emma. "Now, put the car in reverse." Henry did as so. "Check your mirrors. Do it every time so you get into the habit." Henry nodded, checking the rearview mirror first and then the ones on the side of the car. Nothing on every side.

"Now," Emma continued. "Every driver has a blind spot. Do you know where it is?"

"Wow, you really did google this," said Henry. "But, no, I don't."

"Didn't you learn what it was in driver's ed?"

"Probably." Henry shrugged. "But driver's ed was, like, months ago. How am I supposed to remember such a little detail like that?"

"You probably would've remembered it if you had paid attention more instead of looking at Paige every five minutes."

Henry turned red. "I didn't look at _anyone _every five minutes."

"Don't lie to me, kid," laughed Emma. "Jefferson told me about how Paige was in the same driver's ed class, and I know you like her."

Henry's face was now resembling a tomato and he couldn't say anything except a few sputtered words of a sentence he couldn't finish.

"Anyway," Emma said, ignoring Henry's attempted denial at his crush and proceeded with the lesson, "the blind spot is over the left shoulder. After you check your mirrors, check that spot."

Henry sighed impatiently. "Do I _have _to? I mean, the mirrors I kind of understand, but what's the chance something over my left shoulder is gonna come out and hit me or whatever the the milliseconds that I go from checking my mirrors do starting to park?"

"You wanna pass the driving test and get your full license?" asked Emma. Henry gave her a 'no shit' look. "Then do what I'm telling you to do. This was on Google, and you _know _the internet never lies." Henry pouted, but proceeded to look over his left shoulder.

"There's nothing," he said, giving Emma a look.

"Good. Now, Slowly start going in reverse and turn the wheel to the right super quickly." Henry started to reverse when Emma spoke a quick, "Henry, stop!"

Henry slammed on the brakes, his entire body shaking and he whined, "Oh no, did I hit something?"

"No, Henry—"

"I'll pay for the damages, okay? I'll get a job or something, like at the Burger King near the library. Or, oh god, did I hit an animal? A poor squirrel trying to find his way back home and I killed it?"

"_Henry—"_

"What if I—"

"Henry!"

"Yeah?" He looked up at Emma worriedly.

"I was going to say to turn around in your seat…" Henry let out a sigh of relief. "Just make sure you do it, okay? It's really dangerous if you don't, and it doesn't matter how much you can see out of the rearview mirror. Calm down, kid, okay?"

"'Kay," Henry replied, his breathing and heart rate returning to relatively normal. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay, this is your first time driving. And trust me… if you had hit a squirrel, you would've known. There would've been a sound, and you would've felt it."

"...Gross," said Henry.

"Okay, now continue going in reverse. And look behind you this time, dork."

Henry started to go in reverse again, and looked over his right shoulder this time.

"Turn the wheel," Emma reminded him gently, so Henry turned the wheel hard, and the car slowly started moving into position.

"Just a little further…" Emma said, whipping her head back and forth from the front and back views of the car to make sure Henry wasn't going to hit anything. "Now, stop, and turn the wheel to the left until you're level with the other cars. Try not to go any more back."

Henry nodded, straightening their car with the other two and putting his foot on the brake. "Good?"

"Lemme check," said Emma, unlocking and opening the car door. The yellow bug was only a few inches from the curb. "You did, great kid! Make sure you don't get more than about a foot from the curb, though. It's close enough this time, but if you park too far away from it you could get a ticket."

"Did you see that on the internet, too?" Henry's cheeky grin made Emma roll her eyes.

"Pffffft," she said, dramatically crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. "I obviously just know all of this from the top of my head. Have a little bit of faith in me, Henry."

"Whatever you say…," Henry sing-songed.

"Okie doke!" sighed Emma, relief in her voice, and she closed the door back and looked at Henry. "Think you can get from here to the house?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Henry. Maybe it wasn't on actual roads in actual traffic yet, but his mom was actually letting him drive through just about the entire neighborhood! This was more than he expected when he got into the car.

"Cool then, all you have to do is keep that wheel on the left and drive out!" Henry nodded and smiled, taking his foot of the brake and hitting the gas. The car jerked back and a crash was heard. Henry quickly slammed back on the brakes, his face blank and his body stiff. He had forgotten to put the car back in drive.

"Oh, shit," cursed Emma. "Shit shit shit…"

Henry was still silent. Emma looked behind them to see the black car's hood smushed in. "... Okay," started Emma. She slowly turned to Henry, taking the shift and putting the car in park so nothing worse happened.

"I'm sorry!" Henry finally cried out, tearing forming in his eyes as he looked at Emma, his lip wobbling.

"Shh, baby, it's okay," consoled Emma. "I'm going to get out and look at it, okay?" Henry slowly nodded, dazed, and still not believing he screwed up so badly, and an uneasy feeling settling like a dropping stone began to form in his stomach. Emma got out of the bug to inspect the damage.

"Oh, christ," Henry heard his mother say, and he instinctively whimpered. He was in some deep shit and he knew it. "It's a Mercedes. My son runs into a car, and it's a fucking Mercedes."

"I'm sorry, Ma!" yelled Henry, the tears starting to run down his face, and he sniffled.

Emma quickly scooted back in the car, her legs hanging over the edge and the door still ajar. "Hey, it's okay, alright? The owner of this car is probably super nice and _won't _sue us."

Henry sniffed.

"I'm going to go to the house over there." Emma pointed to the house the car was parked the closest to. "I'm going to tell them what happened and that we'll pay for the damages. Don't worry, everything will be fine."

"I'm coming with you!" Henry said, rubbing his cheeks harshly with his sleeve to wipe off any remainders of his tears and unbuckling his seat belt.

"You don't have to, Henry." Emma got out of the car and leaned on the frame.

"I want to." Henry got out of the car, shutting the door. "It was my fault this happened."

Emma felt pride bubble up in her chest. Sure, Henry wasn't naturally talented in driving like every parent of a teenager wished for and crushed the hood of a 40,000 dollar car, but at least he owned up to his mistake and wanted to fix it. Maybe she wasn't such a terrible parental figure after all. That, or Henry just outshined her mediocre skills in raising a kid and was just super amazing.

Probably a combination of both.

They walked up to the house, following the sidewalk's winding path to the front door.

"We just destroyed this person's car. The least we can do is not trample over their yard," Emma had commented. They got the the porch, and Emma started to hear Henry breathe a little severely and loudly as he started to get nervous. "Hey, it's okay. You want me to answer the door?"

"No, I got it," said Henry, stepping in front of his mother ("When had he gotten so tall?" Emma wondered to herself. He was just about her height now, maybe even a little bit taller considering she was wearing heeled boots, and she realized her small boy was growing up, physically and mentally). He pressed the doorbell on the side of the door frame, and they could hear it echo around the insides of the house. It gave them almost an ominous feeling. Was the owner of the house, and presumably the car, home?

The wooden section of the door revealed to be a woman. She was… beautiful, Emma noted, and dressed in a casually formal grey tunic and flats. She had dark black hair with curls that sweeped slightly, touching her shoulders, and pretty brown eyes. But obviously, this isn't what mattered.

_Hopefully her personality is as nice as her looks, _Emma thought to herself. The mysterious woman opened the glass section of the door, and now the three of them were looking at each other awkwardly.

"... Yes? May I help you?" the woman asked, her voice somewhat husky and deep.

"Uh… hi there, Mrs…?" Henry said kindly.

"Regina Mills," the woman said. "And it's Miss, not Mrs. What do you want?"

"Well, I need to know," Henry began, slightly flustered as his voice cracked from apprehensiveness. "Are you the owner of a… black…"

"Mercedes," Emma finished for him. She had recognized the type of car while checking it.

"Yeah," continued Henry. A black Mercedes. Is it yours?"

The woman narrow her eyes, her expression turning to a suspicious confusion. "That's certainly my car. Why?"

Henry gulped. "Well, uh… I'm really sorry. I'm _really _sorry, you have no idea—"

"What did you do to my car?" demanded Miss Mills. "Please step aside."

"Okay, but," Henry stuttered, the pitch of his voice growing higher, his hands moving with his mouth as he tried to explain. "I really am sorry, this was my first time out driving, my mom didn't even trust me out on the actual streets with other cars and stoplights and stuff, and we— well, I— parallel parked for the first time _ever _and—"

"Henry," Emma whispered softly, barely pulling the windbreaker Henry adorned so he'd move out of the way.

"IkindofhityourcarandagainI'mreallysuperdupersorry," Henry rushed out with one long breath as Miss Mills looked at her car.

Regina was shocked at first. When she had opened her door to find a mother and her teenage son, she hadn't been expected her car to be a casualty because of it. But apparently this is how things turned out to be. The car that was rammed into hers was a yellow beetle so old the headlights still stuck out of the front of the car. She sighed, and closed her eyes. There were probably worried about the costs— who wouldn't be?— but that wasn't a bother to her. Her parents were extremely well off and even into retirement, had money to throw away. Asking for a new car would be nothing. In fact, she'd probably even get an upgrade. Her mother had a taste for a lavish lifestyle and definitely wouldn't settle for her daughter to have anything but.

She didn't like her mother to pay for her expenses, even if the cause of them wasn't her fault. Life happens. People have bad luck. She had her own job, and while being a high school principal wasn't extremely lucrative, it paid the bills, but it might not be enough to pay for the damages on the car. Or maybe a new car altogether, if the car was as bad as it looked. Regina knew her mother wouldn't care if she took tens of thousands of dollars out of the account to possibly get a new car; in fact, she'd probably encourage it and say to go for an even more expensive one.

"We'll pay for it," said the mother, scratching the back of her wavy blonde hair as she spoke. "The damages, I mean. Henry didn't mean to do this, obviously, but… it was our fault." Henry, assumably the boy, a bowed head and hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket, had guilt radiating off of him like an aura.

"Maybe," Regina said. "Let's go to the car dealership and see what the cost of it would be. I'm taking it you have damage to your vehicle also, yes?"

"Yeah," the woman said. "We'll have to get a tow truck, I guess, seeing as none of us have a car to drive."

"You would be correct," Regina sighed. What a day. She grabbed her smartphone from the vanity a little ways from the front door and started typing in something. "I'm searching the nearest facility. I'll call them."

"Let's go get our stuff from the car, Henry, while she calls the tow trucking company," the mother said, rubbing her son's back in soft circles. "They'll be towing our car, too, so let's get our valuables out, okay?"

"'Kay," he mumbled, following her as they went to get their things.

They sat in chairs as the three waited for their turn to speak with an employee. The blonde woman looked at her. "Regina Mills, right?" she asked.

"Yes," Regina confirmed.

"Emma Swan." Emma held out an inviting hand, and Regina shook it. "Sorry my son hit your car." Henry, said son, squirmed in his seat, staring out the big window of the car dealership they had been driven to and looked at all the rows of different cars to avoid speaking. "As he was rambling on about on your porch, it was his first time driving. I tried staying in the neighborhood hoping nothing would happen… but… obviously that didn't work out so well." She nervously chucked. "But don't worry, we'll pay for the costs and everything."

"You may not have to," Regina said. "Money… it isn't a problem for me."

Emma's eyebrows scrunched together. "Really? Are you sure? What the heck do you do for a living? And why are you living in a neighborhood like that if you have the kind of money you seem to be talking about?"

"It's not me, I'm only a high school principal." Regina stated, twiddled with her thumbs, the nail of one picking at the other. "It's my parents, but… I wanted to get away from them, you know? Parents can be so suffocating sometimes."

Emma shrugged, seemingly nonchalantly. "Wouldn't know the feeling. I was a foster kid. The only family I have is Henry." The awkward mood that settled down after she said that was so thick it could've been cut with a knife, so to lighten up the mood, Emma asked, "What high school do you work at?"

"Fillmore," answered Regina, and Henry's head perked up a little as he decided to join the conversation.

"Really? That's where I go," he said, raising his head even higher to look Regina in the eye. "I had forgotten we'd gotten a new principal this year." He blushed and glanced away. "No offense."

"None taken," said Regina. After she had spoken, a man in a business suit walked in the room from the maintenance area.

"Emma Swan and Regina Mills?" he called out, and both women named raised their hands to direct him to them. He walked to them, motioning for them to get up, and they walked into a hallways with an array of smaller offices. The man walked into one and Emma and Regina both sat down. Henry stood to Emma's side, looking at the knick knacks the man had on his desk.

"Hi," he said, sitting down. "I'll be your consultant for today. We've gotten both of your information and filed the paperwork into the computer."

"That's nice," Emma said. "How's the damage?"

"The Mercedes' front end is unrepairable, but, the Volkswagen can be fixed, as the back end of it was only dented a small amount, but there are a few parts that would need to be replaced and that might cost a bit depending on what those parts are specifically."

Emma shot Regina an apologetic look.

"Now," the man continued. "What instigated the accident?"

Henry spoke up. "I backed into the Mercedes, sir. Sorry."

"It's okay. Now, Miss… Mills, you own the Mercedes, right?"

Regina nodded. "Yes."

"Are you fixing to press charges, or ask for anything?"

Regina thought for a moment. She knew Emma wouldn't be able to afford the repairs on her own car, nonetheless replace Regina's. So she took out her checkbook from her purse and started to scribble her mother's information on it, along with an amount she knew would cover for her and Emma.

"What are you doing?" Emma hissed.

"Paying for the costs of our repairs," she said, ripping the check from the checkbook and handing it to the businessman. "This is for the Volkswagen. I'm not pressing charges and I'll purchase an exact copy of my car from before."

"But—" Emma started to say something, but Regina interrupted her.

"No matter what this woman says, take the check, okay? Now we'll be leaving." Regina took Emma, who was defeated, by the elbow and half-led half-dragged her out of the room, Henry feeling obligated to trail behind. They got back to the room they waited in.

"You really didn't have to do that," Emma said, and Henry looked at Regina with wide eyes.

"I'm so _sorry_," he whispered to her.

"It's okay," Regina said. "I told you, money isn't exactly a problem for me."

"At least let me find a way to thank you," pleaded Emma.

"You don't have to, it was my mother's money," Regina sighed right as Emma suggested, "Maybe dinner?"

There was a short pause before Emma said, "Well, I don't really feel like taking your mother to dinner, but if you insist…"

"I…" Regina was speechless for a moment. "You can… take me to dinner. That's fine."

"Good." Emma gave a crooked smile. "I'll see what day my car will be repaired so I can pick it up, okay?"

"I'll get a new car, I guess," said Regina, blinking. This was really happening.

She was about to walk out when Emma said, "Not dinner tonight, though. Friday night. Also, since my car probably won't be fixed for a couple of days… could you spare us a ride home? It's not like we live that far away from each other."

Regina smiled. "Of course."

Emma looked in the mirror at her form-fitting magenta dress worriedly in the mirror. Would Regina realize this would be a more formal affair? _Maybe, _Emma pondered. _I mean, she was wearing a nice outfit for just around the house when Henry and I met her. She'll probably dress up._

Emma slipped on her cream colored heels and walked downstairs to see Henry flipping through channels on the television.

"Hey, Ma," Henry greeted, eyes still glued to the screen as he heard his mother's heels clicking on the wooden floors of the living room.

"How do I look?" ask Emma.

Henry turned around to look at her, and he grinned. "If you weren't my mom, I'd definitely say you're smokin'. But you _are _my mom, so..." Henry wore a minutely disgusted face, but it changed to a smile. "But either way, you look super nice."

"Good," she said, grabbing her purse from the coffee table. "Now, are you sure you don't want to come along?"

"Ma, this is basically an unspoken date," Henry said. "Miss Mills literally called me to the office and asked if it was because she couldn't tell. She was super embarrassed; I personally thought it was pretty hilarious. I said yeah, that it was. So it is. I mean, it's weird that you'll be going out on a date with my principal… but it's a date. Trust me."

Emma's face turned a color similar to her dress. "You know, for a fifteen year old who's never had a girlfriend, you sure think you're pretty smooth."

Henry raised up his hands in defense. "Hey, I got moves the ladies ain't ready for yet."

"Okay, kid, whatever makes you sleep at night." Emma laughed as Henry stuck his tongue out at her. "You remember the rules about being home alone?"

Henry started listing the rules off, counting them off on his fingers as he said them. "Don't invite people over and have a huge party and trash that house because I'd have to clean it up. Don't drink any alcohol because it tastes gross anyway and I'm not missing out on anything. Don't watch any porn because the woman in the industry are treated terribly and you didn't raise me to be a misogynist. And, lastly... don't eat all of the pizza rolls, because even though you hate admitting it, you like them, too."

Emma ruffled his hair. "That's my man."

"You're damn right it is."

"Hey, watch the language!" Emma smacked Henry playfully on the arm. "People are going to think I'm a terrible mother."

"Ma, if it makes you feel better, you're the best mom I've ever had."

"I'm the _only _mom you've ever had, nerd," joked Emma, kissing Henry on the cheek. "Now have fun marathoning your Marvel movies."

"I can't help that they're the bomb dot com!" proclaimed Henry, who was wiping lipstick marks off his cheek. "Bye, Ma!"

"Bye, kid!" Emma shut the door and went to her bug. It worked just about like it did before, and it had come back on Wednesday. Good thing, too, because the first two days of the week had been hectic trying to get around. It was a good thing Henry was able to ride the bus (though he complained about is profusely).

Emma drove to Regina's house, remembering where it was from last time. As she pulled up, she quickly got out and walked towards the door. She paused at the door before she knocked. So Regina assumed this would be a date, too? How was it that her son crashing into this beautiful woman's car got her a date? And with the same beautiful woman whose car was destroyed beyond repair _and _decided to pay for the costs that Emma should've paid for?

Fate had an unusual way of working, sometimes.

Emma sighed through her nose. _Get yourself together, Swan. You're going to have dinner with Regina Mills and you are _not _going to make a fool of yourself_.

She knocked.

An awkward silence followed as Emma waited for an answer. The the door opened, and so did the glass screening, and Regina came out.

And holy shit, was she drop-dead gorgeous. Regina was in a black dress with a scoop neck that allowed an ample amount of cleavage to show, the sleeves went about three fourths of the way down her arms, and it stopped at around midthigh. It was topped off with black pumps, the only thing colorful about her outfit her red lips.

"Wow," they both breathed out in unison. Then they both looked at each other, blush painting both of their cheeks, and Emma hoped being out in the cold wouldn't make it so obvious.

"Your chariot awaits," said Emma, motioning for Regina to walk in front of her. And when she did, Emma almost dropped to the ground. Regina's scoop continued down to her midback. Regina had the prettiest back Emma had ever seen (along with the prettiest legs, and face, and eyes, and smile, but who's keeping track?) and she swallowed hard as she led her to the car.

This woman would most certainly be the death of her.

As Emma started driving, she also started a conversation. "I was going to take us to _Primavera_," she stated. "Is that okay for you?"

"That's good with me." Regina actually really liked Italian food, but she had heard about this particular restaurant and it was incredibly fancy. A compliment, indeed, but she didn't like the idea of Emma wanting to spend so much money on just a dinner. "But… isn't also kind of expensive?"

"Yeah," Emma said, "but, lady… you literally paid for the stuff _I_ was supposed to pay for. Even if it wasn't 'technically' your money, you still did it out the kindness of your heart. The absolute least I can do is take you do a nice da—" Emma stopped herself before she could say the word date. She looked at Regina. "... dinner. A nice dinner." She knew Regina had noticed her slip up, and the both of them looked away.

The next words were spoken when Emma pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and said, "We're here." Emma quickly got out of the car so she could open Regina's door before she even had the chance to.

"Miss Mills, you dinner awaits you," she said in an intentionally false baritone voice. Regina laughed.

They walked into _Primavera_, and Emma walked up to the maitre d and said, "Reservation for Swan, please?" The man nodded and led them to their table.

Emma ended up ordering chicken scaloppine and Regina had ginestrata. After their meal, Emma took the receipt booklet and slipped her credit card in the pocket, and the waiter took it away.

"Be honest with me Emma. This meal was extremely delicious; how much did it cost?" questioned Regina.

"Nope." Emma pressed her finger to her lips. "It's a secret."

Regina scowled, and Emma smiled harder.

Emma slowly pulled up to Regina's house. "Well this is it. That was a really nice evening."

Regina smiled softly, but genuinely. "It was. Thank you, Emma?"

"Maaaybe… you wouldn't mind doing this another time? Multiple another times, in fact?" Emma said this quickly, looking at Regina with a hopeful expression, and, yet again, her signature crooked smile.

"Of course," said Regina, and unlocked the car door. "But next time, if you want to go on a date with me, try not to let your son drive into my car again, okay?" And with that, Regina pecked Emma on the cheek and got out, walking to up to her house and going in. Emma watched her the entire way.

"Oh sweet Jesus on a stick," she sighed. "I'm in for it."

**Woot. :) Tell me what you think!**


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